Exploring the Definition and Popularity of a “Millennial Burger Restaurant” Meme

What's a 'millennial burger joint' and why is it a meme?
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(NEXSTAR) You know what a “millennial burger place” is and have likely even eaten in one even if the phrase seems foreign. Recently, TikTok users have been discussing these types of eateries that have cropped up over the past 10 years.

These types of businesses were or are owned and designed by millennials and, according to TikTok, some of their common aspects have gotten out of control.

Here’s how to identify a “millennial burger spot.”

How to spot a “millennial burger joint”

A chalkboard restaurant menu stock photo (Credit: Pan-Pavel/Getty Images)

TikTok is also laughing at how many of these places seem to include clichéd “Our Story” sections of the website (or even signage in the store) explaining that “it all began with two guys with a crazy idea,” or something similar.

“Millennial burger joint”: Why are people making fun of these places?

As with anything created for or by millennials, the internet is loving calling these types of restaurants “millennial cringe.” And on social media, people are always looking to make fun of millennials for the type of internet and social media humor the generation created online beginning in the mid-2000s.

Things like “adulting,” “epic bacon,” Doge (which Elon Musk seems to still find hilarious), and liking tacos as a personality trait all categorized under “millennial cringe.”

Per Know Your Meme, which chronicles the origins of and proliferation of memes, though the joke has been around for years, its latest viral circulation began when TikToker @fairylights2007 shared a video of comedian Kyle Gordon’s parody song “We Will Never Die,” (also known as “2011 parody song”) which itself is making fun of sincere millennial hits like Fun.’s 2011 anthem, “We Are Young.” In the TikTok post, @fairylights2007 captioned the video: “This song is so truffle fries overpriced burger brick walls metal tin of ketchup” the post from Feb. 11 currently has over 360,000 likes, over 4,000 replies and 2.3 million views.

A neon sign reading “IN WINE WE TRUST” hanging on an exposed brick wall, akin to the kinds of signs you’d see at a “cringe” millennial restaurant (Credit: Vladimir Dyavhkov/Getty Images)

The burger joint meme even has users submitting other examples of such businesses, including the “millennial hair salon” and the “millennial brewery.”

While the joke here is mostly that these types of design and operation elements became so easily identifiable and common, there’s also an economic component to the meme, as many such restaurants are still around and operating. And a frequent complaint about them is that they’re too expensive.

Typically, burger restaurants like these offer “premium” burgers that range in price up to $25 and that’s not including the cost of french fries or a beverage. Along with pretty much everything else, the prices for a hamburger meal have gone up with the rise of inflation and now, the $20 burger is hitting a little harder on the pockets.

One thing this meme has exposed is how commonplace the aesthetics of a millennial-owned restaurant have become, which leads to the next question: Are mass millennial-owned restaurant redesigns on the way?

Only time will tell.

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